Is This a Date?
by Meteor Beat
Summary: Isane had one question, right here in the restaurant, having Ichigo at her side, she wondered, did he did this to apologize for what happened in Rukia's rescue or was this a date? Ichigo/Isane. part of Through Their Eyes series.


_So, here we go, another part of the Through Their Eyes experience, this time comes the turn of the tallest girl in the shinigami rankings, the all time lovable Kotetsu Isane, I really love this girl for some reason, maybe because very few people have worked with this pairing, but anyway, here comes the work._

_Maybe some of you will see that there is so much explanation, but the whole interaction comes to the finish, hope you guys enjoy this._

_Probably I'll work on **Night Terrors**, another Ichigo/Isane, but the next one to come is **Scratching a Heart** with the dark skinned woman Yoruichi, so, without any delay, let's go on with the show._

_Disclaimer: I'm not the owner, Tite Kubo is, and he promised us more Bleach for another 10 years, good for him! _

Is This a Date?

"Why do I even have to do this?"

"Just shut up and don't move" for being such a tiny girl she was the only person who could command Ichigo like this, even if Ichigo tried to retaliate with words or tried to ignore her the psychotic midget would kick him in the shins or hit him in the stomach, so to avoid unnecessary pain he decided to simply go along with her plan, with some minimal complains along the way just for the heck of it, if he didn't Rukia would know something was wrong.

"You haven't answered midget" his permanent scowl increased in intensity looking at his permanent pain in the ass.

"If you need to know is because you are still missing one apology" oh right, her whole 'let's make Seireitei forgive Ichigo for being a ryoka' plan, Ichigo didn't see the need of it in the first place.

"Come on, is not like people are waiting for something like this, I don't see the point of all this stupid plan"

"And that's why I am making you do this, idiot; you have no idea of what you do or what to say, you think everyone is the same as in Karakura, think about it, we are all free now, but they still see you as a simple ryoka who does nothing but fight like another nameless member of division eleven, do you want everyone to remember you like that?" It wasn't like Rukia was expecting a yes or no; she was too much into this to even hear his opinions about it.

While she was giving her explanation Rukia was still trying to fix the formal yukata of Ichigo; the one thing the orange haired boy didn't have was any kind of formal attire for Seireitei, their fashion was still very archaic in comparison with the constantly changing fashion in the living world, although that seemed to be changing bit by bit with the help of women like Matsumoto Rangiku.

Thankfully, for Ichigo, her brother was more than prepared for any kind of situation and he wouldn't miss one for this evening, with how much he used his shinigami uniform these clothes were going to go to waste if nobody used them.

"Please, they don't even care"

"Well… I suppose most of Seireitei won't even matter, you can go without apologizing" In all the chaos that had ensued after 5 human and one cat crashed into Seireitei Ichigo had defeated all the non-seated members of the eleven squad, but they only wanted a fight and received that. He had also defeated Ikkaku, but he was the one who enjoyed fighting with Ichigo and thought their fight was fun. In the case of Kenpachi-taicho neither Ichigo nor Rukia wanted to get close to him. Byakuya didn't stand being in the same room as Ichigo so he was out. Renji wanted to stop Ichigo from reaching Rukia when he was trying to rescue her and she wasn't yet ready to forgive him, probably for the next couple of centuries; not just from what he did to Ichigo the first time, but also for what he had told her when he alongside with Nii-sama retrieved her, or maybe due to all the years he spend avoiding her once she was adopted into the Kuchiki family when she needed a friend, her best friend the most, now that place was filled by a crazy impulsive idiot, but he was her idiot after all, it was sometimes like taking care of a younger brother. So after all there were only three people he should ask for forgiveness after his attack at Seireitei, ironically the three were lieutenants.

In the case of Omaeda-fukutaicho there was no need after all, Soi Fong-taicho felt that the ass-kicking from Ichigo was what the lazy bastard (in her own words) needed, for his lose against the substitute shinigami she already had a good punishment in mind so there was no need for an apology. In the case of Sasakibe-fukutaicho thing were much simpler, Ichigo went into the first division and saw the lieutenant, it seemed that the quiet and calm man simply didn't feel any animosity against Ichigo and forgave him instantly. Now there was only one person missing.

Kotetsu Isane was probably the most connected with her captain, the few times Rukia have seen them, mostly in the SWA meetings, she seemed like a really polite woman who looked into Unohana-taicho like a mother more than a captain and vice versa, the small Kuchiki noble was sure that Unohana-taicho considered Isane as the daughter she never had.

Thinking about the light blue haired woman, Rukia had the suspicion that the lieutenant had seen very few people up considering her size.

Looking up herself she was sure that Ichigo had somehow grown taller since the last time she had saw him if it was even possible, the boy always towered over her but he was only fifteen, she knew he still had some growth spurts left, he was practically a giant here in Seireitei seeing that almost everyone were more Japanese-standard. Maybe making this reunion wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Once Rukia was more or less convinced that Ichigo looked his part he almost kicked him out of the room he was staying in Kukaku's house and the boy quickly shunpo-ed the rest of the way in a couple of seconds. Once more, Ichigo asked himself what he was doing right now, since when he followed Rukia's orders so easily. Maybe the answer was very simple: Rukia was alive, nothing less, nothing more, the midget was in one piece and right, that made them go back to their antics and shenanigans in overdrive most of the time they have interacted, everything was alright for now, so that's why probably he didn't fought against the idea of meeting other shinigami.

But thinking about it, it had some purpose, not so far ago he was their enemy, his mere existence was defying their rules, with Aizen's threat out there he would probably need all the help to keep the people close to him, be it human or shinigami, protected; with that in mind he kicked up the gear to arrive on time to the so called 'I'm-sorry-place', and Ichigo still had no idea of what Rukia have done.

/In another place of Seireitei/

"Come on, I just don't get it, why are you so nervous about this?" the blonde third seat of the thirteen division had her head slightly tilted to the side while looking at the fidgeting woman in front of her.

"I don't know, maybe because I have never done something like this" Kotetsu Isane answered at her younger sister while looking again at her reflection in the full body mirror in her room. For this night she had left behind her usual uniform and the lieutenant badge from the fourth division and instead she was wearing a beautiful formal kimono, which was a gift from her own captain; the kimono fit just right, which for a woman over 6 feet tall was a blessing, it was a deep royal blue with an imprint of grey flowers with a tint of mauve, the same tonality as her short hair, which alongside the obi around her waist of the same color as the flowers made her hair a focal point in the assemble instead of trying to hide it or make it even more of a flashlight just like the black garments all shinigami had to use.

The fashion help came from both her sister and Matsumoto Rangiku; Isane was still a little worried about the slightly melancholic woman, it seems that the betrayal of Gin was still looming over her head, but knowing her she'll soon get out of her funk and start being the loud, lazy and outrageous member of the SWA.

"Stop whining, everything will go perfect, Kurosaki-san made all the arrangements" of course he didn't, but it wasn't like Isane needed to know; the younger sister had to fight back the urge of sighing at the way her older sister was acting.

Even though they were as different as day and night, both in looks and personality, both sisters were extremely close, they always took at least some sister day in the week to spend together and because of that Kiyone knew very well some of the fears and traumas in the taller girl. First of all was the strange nightmares that plagued her, they were completely ridiculous sometimes, just like that dream of Tofu coming to life and trying to conquer the whole Seireitei she had a month ago; another was the naivety she had, Rangiku could prank her making her believe something ludicrous could help with her height and Isane believed it just like that; and third, the height of her sister, she was over 6 feet tall, all the guys were terrified by that and while she had a lovely figure most male shinigami only saw one thing, that she towered over them.

"Are you sure?" the typical melancholic look in her face showed that for now Isane was letting those worries behind with the words and attitude of her much more extroverted member of the family.

"Yes, yes, now, move along, you're going to be late if you keep pacing around the room, is not that far away but you don't want to make Kurosaki-san wait for you" Kiyone explained making shooing moves with her glove-encased hands signaling for the grey haired woman to get out and away.

Deciding that it was better to do that Isane went out in the direction of the restaurant where she will meet with the young ryoka boy; well, he wasn't really a ryoka now. Unlike most people in Seireitei, Isane had nothing against the young humans that crashed into Seireitei in hopes to rescue the Kuchiki-heir; she even talked to Hanatarou when he came back after joining Kurosaki in the attempt of rescuing Rukia.

Trying to save one of your friends would never be something to be mad at, of course, it went against the rules but it was so brave, and to be sincere, even though she knew he was almost a tenth of her own age, when he stopped the Soukyoku just with his zanpakuto was something that left her completely breathless, and besides, she really didn't care about his age. For shinigami in general, and other souls living in rukongai, the mere age debacle became pointless since now that they were dead and they could live for centuries the difference of age between souls and pairings was something without importance, what would be the difference of several decades between some people? If you only looked for a partner in the same range of your age then you'll keep searching for a very long time, Isane knew very well this.

Looking around her she could see everyone walking around this safe area of the rukongai and it made her feel slightly out of place; due to her looks and most importantly, her height, Isane have never been one of the popular choices for an outing; guys usually went for the exuberant looks of Matsumoto, or the fierceness of Soi Fong-taicho (not that any guy could even have the nerve to talk to that woman); heck, even Momo-chan had much more male attention than herself, most of them looked at her as some sort of behemoth, with the natural melancholic look in her eyes increasing slightly due to her own thoughts Isane quickly arrived at the location, thankfully her companion for this evening was already there with the usual scowl on his face.

Seeing him now closer she was quite surprised, after all, she knew he was only a fifteen years old teenager, but had enough power not only to decimate the whole eleven division, but to defeat captain level shinigamis, but when he had defeated her alongside other two lieutenants she was sure he had hold back against her; that proved there was more than his fierce looks and scowl.

"A…ano… good evening Kurosaki-san" the taller of the two bowed down in slight awkwardness at their current situation, somehow this felt slightly like a blind date for both; for his part Ichigo could only look upwards to the grey haired woman; very few times he had to look upwards to somebody, the exceptions being Chad or in the case of arriving at Seireitei, Kenpachi, but this woman was tall enough that if it weren't because he had grown taller with his training she would be a whole head taller.

"Oi, stop with the whole san thing, just call me Ichigo, I hate all that stupid formality" Ichigo said in part because of his own distaste of the extreme formality around him in this place, and part because he too was nervous in this situation; for her part Isane stood back surprised at his reaction, very few times she had heard someone be this direct, usually the direct ones around her were Kiyone, and sometimes Unohana-taicho when she had to deal with a headstrong member of Zaraki-taicho's division, and to be truthful it was a refreshing in its own way.

"Hai, Ichigo-sa… Ichigo" Isane answered back now with a small smile present in her face melting the usual melancholic look now taking the attention of Ichigo; shrugging his shoulders Ichigo opened the door and left Isane enter first much to the surprise of the taller girl.

So, both curiously color haired shinigamis had been sitting down trying to start some small talk, finally they decided in the topic of the aftermath of Aizen's betrayal and what was happening to the other shinigamis who suffered injuries; Ichigo had been surprised of knowing how people he didn't know yet were affected, take the case of the lieutenant of Aizen, Hinamori Momo and both the mental and physical injuries she had at the hands of that madman, and just when they finally were relaxing the food came; Rukia had really made plans for the whole evening.

Looking at the array of traditional dishes in front of them Ichigo could do nothing but feel really lucky of being in that place, not that the food he had at Kukaku's house was nothing bad, but the last that he had probably eaten that well had been on his house; after munching in some of the yakitori Ichigo only raised one eyebrow at the antics of his companion.

Isane was obviously distressed while she looked directly at the small fish cake sitting down on her plate while her chopsticks were hovering over it ominously.

"Ah, Isane, are you going to eat that kamaboko? Do you hate it that much?" Ichigo was watching the strange occurrence with some curiosity, meanwhile Isane turned to look at him with a slightly scared face.

"Is… is that Matsumoto-san told me that… that kamaboko can make you stop growing" she said looking at again at the small cake as if it would jump and attack her but soon forgot that when he heard the orange haired boy choke, turning around she found out that he wasn't chocking, no, it was more embarrassing, he was holding his own laughter "did I said something wrong?"

"Isane… I don't know what properties the kamaboko has, but they definitely don't alter the growing of a person" at this words Isane couldn't contain it anymore and her shoulder dropped the same as her face, even some rather comical looking tears began to fall down from her downcast eyes.

"She did it again! Matsumoto-san, why do you have to prank me like that?" Isane cried while Ichigo laughed a little bit at her expression and what was obvious a prank of the blonde, Ichigo didn't know much about either of them but he was sure that the height of Isane was a particular soft spot on Isane to do those kinds of jokes, it also showed that Isane was in fact somewhat naïve.

"So you really hate kamaboko!"

"Is just that… it gives me nightmares"

"Do they prank you like that all the time?"

"Well… not all the time, but… you know…"

"They can get a little out of hand, I got it"

"Do you mind?" Isane asked in a small voice while Ichigo finally got a hold of himself.

"What do you mean?"

"You know… about me being so… tall… don't you think it is too weird to be in the company of a giant like me?" Isane said, obviously she had her own traumas, ones that Ichigo wasn't exactly a stranger, maybe not the height thing, but things like his hair color, his own family, things like that could really get into your nerves.

"What, that? I have a friend who is taller than me, even taller than you, so there is no problem, I don't mind" Isane's tears seemed to disappear when he said that, it was the first time somebody told her that "I mean, it is kind of cute" he said without even thinking making the usual pale skin in her face heat up quickly.

"C…c…cute?" Isane said in a barely audible voice before trying to hide her face looking downwards, which would have worked better if she had longer face; for his part Ichigo had to chuckle again at her antics, for some reason the girl had a strange effect on him, it made him calm down, relax; yeah, she was tall, but who cared? She was really cute, she was the contrary of what one would expect, it was like if Rukia and her decided to exchange heights since Isane's attitude fitted more in a petite shy girl "a… ano… Ichigo?" Isane said making the substitute shinigami get out of his mental picture of a tall imposing Rukia "when… you wanted to come here… well…"

"Isane… just say"

"Well… ah… is this… is this a date?" Isane had to blurt it out making Ichigo blink. At the beginning it was simply a reunion so he could apologize to Isane after everything that happened, but now, looking at the still red face of Isane he had to think, this was one of the most calm and relaxing days he had in several weeks, maybe since he turned into a shinigami, so maybe.

"I think so… yeah… I think this is a date" Ichigo said with his usual smirk while looking at the pleased face of Kotetsu Isane.

Not too far away from them, in another table, a petite dark haired girl and an equally short blonde haired shinigami high fived, after all, there was nothing like a good plan succeeding.

_She is somewhat allergic to kamaboko as you have known, so, hope you guys liked the work, see ya guys soon with more Through Their Eyes works._

Meteor Beat.

Logging Out.


End file.
